If you’ve lost a significant amount of weight, how did you do it?

[MrsDrake]

Currently trying to avoid getting weight loss surgery as I don’t think it will help in the long run as I have impulses to binge and I have family who have gained weight again after stretching their stomachs.

My health is shot. I have to lose 9+ stone.

I’ve done all the diets and seem to get stuck in the same place. I like the freedom of not weighing and counting everything with SW and WW but end up extremely hungry. I like the freedom if nothing being off limits with calorie counting, and don’t get as hungry, but the counting and weighing takes up so much headspace it seems to trigger a binge too.

I’ve tried to get hep for the binging, but a lot of it seems to centre around stopping dieting. With my cholesterol, blood pressure and diabetes status that just isn’t possible.

If you have managed to lose a large amount of weight, how did you do it?

Lost a small amount but significant enough for me, doing 16:8. Last thing I eat is around 6:30/7pm then not again until 11am. Game changer.

I lost 75kg. Calorie counting (nothing extreme, never went under 2000 per day) and exercise.

I lost 3 stone by calorie counting (including weighing when at home, total faff but got used to it)& exercise.The key for me was not eating too little. I lost most of my weight on 1900 cals, so you could eat a lot more and still lose lots of weight. When I used to eat v low cals I would just get extremely hungry and binge. Eating lots of protein and fibre also helps

Name changed for this. I had to have a CT scan and when going through the results, the doctor gently told me that the amount of visceral fat around my organs was significant. Seeing the image of my heart surrounded by a thick layer of fat frightened the shit out of me. I think of it everyday and it helps me make good choices consistently. I mean I knew I was fat because of the size of my waist but I was in denial and would attempt diets but with no sense of why it really mattered.

I lost over 4 stone through illness , I wouldn’t recommend it .

With regard to the calorie counting, are you happy eating the same thing every day? I know that if I eat porridge for breakfast, soup for lunch and something fairly normal like chicken, veg, potato for dinner, that's about right for calories. No meal planning or headspace etc required. My husband can't understand how I can eat the same thing every day though, I appreciate it is not for everyone!

I lost 15kg within a few months last year and it took a lot of determination but so worth it. Losing weight isn't easy but you need to be strict with yourself and not overly so either! All I did was eat well during the week and Saturday was my cheat day and that way I wasn't depriving myself and had something to look forward to.
I also did daily workouts 5/6 days a week but again they weren't massive workouts just little 10-15min strength workouts from YouTube.
It's hard to start off with but once you get into the habit it becomes natural 💪 X

I lost 6 stone with Slimming World

I lost 6 stone last year with calorie counting and moving more. I got an Apple Watch to track my exercise.

I used MyFitnessPal for the calorie counting. The first few weeks were annoying but I eventually got to the stage where all our usual meals were saved as recipes so the logging was much quicker.

I honestly don’t think there is a best way to lose weight. It’s all down to being mentally ready to do it. If your head isn’t in the right place, it’s not going to work whatever way you choose to do it.

Good Luck OP

I have lost over 3 1/2 stone. During the week, I only eat between 10:30 am and 7pm. Careful to make low fat and lowish carb food choices, but don't calorie count - I mostly follow Weight Watchers guidelines, but not completely. I relax a bit at weekends and allow myself a treat (piece of chocolate/ more indulgent meal/ a couple of biscuits). I average about 1 1/2lbs a week. It I'd slow, but I need to do something that I can live with long term, rather than a quick fix that I know from experience, will defeat me. I haven't yet started any serious exercise as I have some mobility issues, made worse but not caused by my weight (accident related). It isn't easy, but I have been doing this for 9 months now and I can cope with it.

7stone in 9 months. Gastric sleeve.

Am so much happier.

I lost 19kg in six months a few years ago.

I did it when I accepted that obesity is a lifestyle choice not an illness, and that I, and I alone was solely responsible for what I chose to put in my mouth. I realised that I had to stop blaming anything and everyone but myself for my choices and for the fact that I was fat. It wasn’t society’s fault, it wasn’t the junk food industry’s fault, it wasn’t the advertising industry’s fault or the supermarkets’ fault or the government’s fault.

I identified my ‘weaknesses’ (bread, pasta, biscuits, beer, crisps, red meat) and simply stopped buying them. I also did at least 10k steps a day, a every day, and got into cycling.

Mine is a much smaller loss than most here but I calorie counted using my fitness pal app.

Only ate when I was hungry
No crap
Lots of lean protein, veg, salad
Walked a lot
Now I eat as above but with v small portions of less healthy stuff.

Lost 3 stones.

I lost about 6 and a half stone with a combination of things. Mainly reducing portion sizes having half a slice of bread instead of a full slice, eating from a smaller bowl rather than a plate, having snack size bags of buttons instead of biscuits or big bags (find those hard to gauge). And making myself wait 20 mins or so before asking myself if I was still hungry or really craving something rather than just being bored, anxious etc. I still have the urge to binge but usually that’s actually an indication I’m tired and need a nap

I've not lost 19 stone, just only 2 stone by gradually replacing things with a slightly more healthy version and reducing the amount of times I snack a day. I can't just stop overnight and switch to healthy.

I was rewarding myself with treats all the time. It's hard to change your mindset, so that eating rubbish food isn't a reward.

4 stone in about a year, taking me to a healthy BMI. 'Why we eat (too much)' by Andrew Jenkinson.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight_loss_chat/4452191-Why-We-Eat-Too-Much-Thread-5

Stupid stupid boring boring calorie counting and measuring and weighing.

It was SO boring.

I turned it into a bit of an obsession, which made it slightly more fun.

4 stone off.

Once I'd lost 2 stone I also did spinning twice a week and Pilates once a week, but that was just so I had more calories to count (1200 on a non exercise day, 1600 on an exercise day).

BUT did I maintain that weightloss..? No, we went into lockdown and I was stationary and greedy for two years. Now I'm trying the Louise Parker method, it's coming off... But slowly, and hopefully more sustainably.

8 stone with a gastric sleeve
Have maintained for 2 years

My friend is shifting well having completely cut out sweets, snacks, sugary drinks, carbohydrates etc. Would love to shift 2st like she has - but I don't eat the stuff she used to eat. Not sure what the answer is!

I've been doing this for many years, I eat a small protein based lunch at 12 then dinner around 6, and nothing till midday again...I've gradually gained weight over the years. When I was in my 20's I could eat 5 huge meals a day and weighed 8 stone...3 kids, 30 years and hysterectomy later and I'm 5 stone heavier :-(

Weight loss surgery for me, more specifically a mini gastric bypass. Tried every diet under the sun, I was almost 23st nothing was sustainable. Best thing I ever did. Don’t know how but it’s changed my whole entire mindset, I don’t enjoy crap sugar filled junk foods anymore, I know what my body needs. It’s great

Sadly as I sure you know. Shifting the extra pounds is hard and takes a huge amount of commitment. It can be done, but if you can't even be bothered to at least count calories etc then it doesn't sound like you're terribly committed to losing the weight.
I lost 4 stone in the fast 800, it was amazing and I didn't go hungry once. HOWEVER, It too loads of meal prepping and preparing to make sure I wasn't caught short (and then caught hungry and tempted to snack on junk) but it took so much work.
Good luck with your journey x

Five and a half here, and I wouldn't recommend it either.

My Fitness Pal, high protein, low carb and I denied myself nothing. I've kept it off as well.